How are companies monitoring the avian flu situation?

Answer 1

I am not sure which companies you are talking about so I am going to "assume" you mean the pharmaceutical companies. There are weekly reports issued by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta as well as weekly updates from the World Health Organization. These reports have indicated that slow progress is being made to transport the virus from one country to another. (That is really good news.) The bad news is that we still do not have enough vaccine to handle a worldwide pandemic anywhere in the world. In the United States we are coming up with responses to the worldwide pandemic. It will involve lots of vaccine (should one become available) or possible the distribution of massive tablets of Tamiflu for people to keep them from getting the disease after exposure. You may want to contact your local health department to find out specifics about how to get information about Avian flu from CDC and WHO! Thanks for asking. This is going to be a problem no matter where you live in the world.

Answer 2

Of course the Center for Disease Control, the USDA and many state and local health departments are following the status of this disease and making their findings known through the media. Companies in general rely on the information provided by these and various international organizations to make sure they are informed and prepared. Drug companies with a vested interest in the development of specific drugs and vaccines not only keep up with the status of this disease but also advance research to prevent or treat it. So far the disease is most apparent in birds amongst which it is easily transmitted and highly lethal. Humans who have intimate contact with birds can get bird flu too but it does not transmit from human to human except in very rare instances. This disease will likely make it to North American within the next year via migratory birds with a fanfare of media coverage. The poultry industry is well prepared to deal with it. However, the world in general is not in a position to effectively deal with it if it becomes transmissible between humans.......but a lot of progress has been made in this regard, so the hope remains that if it does become transmissible from man to man we will be able to cope with it well.